The Latest: Rivers has record-setting day for Bolts

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers prepares to throw against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, in Carson, Calif. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo ) (Kelvin Kuo)

By The Associated Press| November 25, 2018 at 3:13 PM EST - Updated November 25 at 7:23 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell (9) throws a touchdown pas on a fake field goal attempt during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (AP)

The Latest on Week 12 in the NFL (all times EDT):

7:15 p.m.

Philip Rivers was nearly perfect in the Chargers' 45-10 victory over Arizona, completing 28 of 29 passes for 259 yards in only three quarters of work.

That completion percentage of 96.8 percent surpassed Kurt Warner's record of 92.3, set for the Cardinals in a game against Jacksonville. Warner was 24 of 26 that day.

Rivers hit 25 straight passes over the first 2 1/2 quarters to match Ryan Tannehill's NFL record, set over a two-game stretch in 2015. He also broke Mark Brunell's record for consecutive completions to start a game — Brunell hit 22 straight for Washington on Sept. 24, 2006.

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6:20 p.m.

Chargers running back Melvin Gordon has gone to the locker room after sustaining a knee injury during the third quarter of their game against the Cardinals.

Gordon was hurt when he was catching a flip from Austin Ekeler on an end-around and a Cardinals defender tripped him. Gordon went down and immediately grabbed his right leg below the knee.

He had carried 10 times for 61 yards and two touchdowns when he left the game.

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6:10 p.m.

Ben Roethlisberger was 25 of 31 for 221 yards in the first half at Denver, but the Steelers' lone touchdown came from kicker Chris Boswell on a fake field goal as time expired.

Boswell took the direct snap and hit left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, a wide receiver during his college days at Army, with the tying touchdown pass. He's the first Steelers offensive lineman to catch a touchdown pass since Ray Pinney did it against the Browns in 1983.

The Steelers had frittered away a couple of scoring chances.

Justin Simmons blocked Boswell's 48-yard field goal attempt, and Will Parks punched away the football just as tight end Xavier Grimble was about to score on a 24-yard catch-and-run, the ball going out of bounds in the end zone for a touchback.

— Arnie Stapleton reporting from Denver

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6 p.m.

The Chargers' Philip Rivers tied Ryan Tannehill's NFL record by completing 25 consecutive passes in their game against the Cardinals before misfiring on a dump-off to Austin Ekeler.

Rivers was 19 of 19 in the first half Sunday, then connected on his first three passes in the second half to break Mark Brunnell's record for consecutive completions to start a game.

Rivers added two more completions to match Tannehill's record, the 25th a short touchdown pass to Keenan Allen that withstood a video review to see whether it was caught inbounds.

Tannehill's record was set over two games with Miami during the 2015 season.

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5:30 p.m.

Philip Rivers has been perfect in the first half for the Chargers, going 19 of 19 for 187 yards and two touchdowns in helping the Chargers to a 28-10 lead over the Cardinals.

Melvin Gordon also has a pair of TD runs for the Chargers.

The Chargers (7-3) are trying to keep pace with the Chiefs (9-2) in the AFC West.

Another one of their AFC West rivals, Denver, is helping both of their causes when it comes to playoff positioning. They're giving the Steelers (7-2-1) all they can handle in the first half.

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4:40 p.m.

Miami's Ryan Tannehill took his first snaps in a game after missing the previous five with an injured throwing shoulder and looked like he hadn't missed a thing in Indianapolis.

Tannehill completed his first two passes for 34 yards, capping the drive with a screen pass that Kenyan Drake took 33 yards for a touchdown — ending the Dolphins' nine-quarter stretch without a TD.

The drive took just six plays and came five plays after Colts linebacker Darius Leonard injured his knee and walked straight to the locker room. Leonard came into the weekend leading the league with 104 tackles. His return was listed as questionable.

— Mike Marot reporting from Indianapolis

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4:25 p.m.

Rookie quarterbacks ruled the early games in Week 12 as Lamar Jackson had two touchdowns to lead Baltimore past Oakland, Baker Mayfield threw for four TDs in the Browns' win over the Bengals and Josh Allen had scores on the ground and through the air in a win over Jacksonville.

Tom Brady and Sony Michel had big days to lead the Patriots to a 27-13 win over the New York Jets, and Russell Wilson led Seattle from behind for a 30-27 win over the Panthers.

That spoiled a big day by Carolina's Christian McCaffrey.

In the other early games, the Buccaneers routed the 49ers 27-9 while the Super Bowl champion Eagles came from behind to beat the Giants, 25-22.

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4:15 p.m.

The Cardinals scored on their opening drive as Josh Rosen threw a 25-yard touchdown to Larry Fitzgerald to take a 7-0 lead over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Rosen, who grew up in Manhattan Beach and went to UCLA, completed all four of his passes for 56 yards on the drive in front of his hometown fans.

The StubHub Center also marks the 41st different NFL stadium where Fitzgerald has caught a pass.

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4:05 p.m.

The Tennessee Titans have downgraded wide receiver Taywan Taylor, who hurt his foot a few weeks ago against Dallas, to out for Monday night's game in Houston.

Taylor had been limited in practice this week.

The Titans also added starting outside linebacker Derrick Morgan to the injury report as questionable with an illness. Left tackle Taylor Lewan did not practice with an illness, but he was expected to play Monday night.

— Teresa M. Walker reporting from Nashville, Tennessee

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3:50 p.m.

Christian McCaffrey has 10 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown along with 17 carries for 125 yards and a score, making him the first player in Carolina history with at least 100 yards receiving and rushing in the same game.

His total of 229 yards and counting against Seattle is also a franchise record.

Meanwhile, quarterback Cam Newton completed his first 14 passes in the first half and was 21 of 24 for 216 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers built a 27-20 lead on the Seahawks.

— Steve Reed reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina

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3:40 p.m.

Jacksonville running back Leonard Fournette and Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson have been ejected after trading punches along the sideline late in the third quarter of their game.

The fight began after the Jags' Donte Moncrief caught what was initially ruled a 30-yard TD pass at the left pylon. He was battling for control of the ball with Levi Wallace when a Jaguars player struck Bills safety Jordan Poyer from behind, and then Lawson ran in and hit Fournette.

Lawson and Fournette pushed their way to side of the stands where they traded punches while Jaguars running back Carlos Hyde and Bills defensie end Jerry Hughes attempted to separate them.

The two were then escorted off their respective sidelines and began yelling at each other as they reached the tunnel. Lawson had to be held back by a Bills official while Fournette was asked to wait — he was then struck in the left shoulder by a fan, who had reached out from the stands.

— John Wawrow reporting from Orchard Park, New York

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3:30 p.m.

Tom Brady has reached 3,000 yards passing for the 16th straight season, tying Peyton Manning for second in NFL history behind Brett Favre's streak of 18.

The New England quarterback surpassed 3,000 early in the fourth quarter with a 17-yard completion to a diving Josh Gordon. Earlier, he became the NFL's career leader in total yards passing in both regular-season and playoff games.

Brady entered the game against the New York Jets on Sunday needing 147 yards to pass Manning's mark of 79,279. He accomplished the feat with a 16-yard pass to Gordon early in the second quarter.

Brady He had a chance at setting another record, needing four touchdown passes to top Manning's 579 for the most in NFL history, including postseason games.

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3:10 p.m.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton hurt the thumb on his passing hand while trying to recover a fumble early in the second half of their game against the Cleveland Browns.

Dalton chased a snap that went over his head and got caught in a pileup. He immediately headed to a locker room for an exam.

The Browns recovered the fumble, and Baker Mayfield threw his fourth touchdown pass for a 35-7 lead. Dalton was 10 of 17 for 100 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Dalton broke his right thumb late in the 2015 season and missed the playoffs.

— Joe Kay reporting from Cincinnati

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3 p.m.

Arizona quarterback Josh Rosen wore a black T-shirt during early warmups supporting the Los Angeles Fire Department and asking fans to text donations to the Red Cross for wildfire relief before Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers at the StubHub Center.

Rosen is a Southern California native. He grew up in Manhattan Beach and went to UCLA before he was chosen 10th overall by the Cardinals in the draft last April.

— Joe Reedy reporting from Los Angeles

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2:30 p.m.

When the Jets' Jason Myers made a 55-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining in the opening half against New England, he became the first kicker in NFL history to hit five field goals from 55-plus yards in one season.

Myers also had 55-yarders against Miami, Minnesota and Buffalo. He made a 56-yarder at Miami, which is the second longest for the franchise. Chandler Catanzaro had a 57-yard field goal against Cleveland last season.

Myers also tied the Jets' home field-goal distance record for the fourth time this season with the 55-yard boot. It tied the score at 10 at halftime.

— Barry Wilner reporting from East Rutherford, New Jersey

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2:25 p.m.

Saquon Barkley hit the big 5-0 again against Philadelphia.

The Giants' rookie running back had a 51-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter to give New York a 19-3 lead over the Super Bowl champion Eagles.

Barkley has mastered the art of the long run against them.

He had a 55-yard gain on a screen pass and a 50-yard rushing TD in the first game this season between the NFC East rivals. Barkley had 130 yards rushing and caught nine passes for 99 yards in that game last month, and he had 94 yards rushing in the first half Sunday.

— Dan Gelston reporting from Philadelphia

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2:15 p.m.

Browns safety Damarious Randall predicted on Friday his team would drub the Bengals if wide receiver A.J. Green didn't play, and so far Cleveland is off to a 21-0 lead.

Randall just picked off Andy Dalton near midfield, ran out of bounds and handed the ball to former Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson, now a special assistant in Cincinnati.

Meanwhile in Baltimore, Cyrus Jones returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown to give the Ravens a 10-7 lead over Oakland. It was the Ravens' longest play of the year.

The Ravens' field goal also was the product of a big play: rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson hit tight end Mark Andrews to set it up. Jackson has run only once while carrying 27 times in his first NFL start last week against Cincinnati.

— Joe Kay reporting from Cincinnati and David Ginsburg reporting from Baltimore

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1:55 p.m.

Tom Brady has become the NFL's career leader in total yards passing in both regular-season and playoff games.

The Patriots quarterback entered Sunday's game against the New York Jets needing 147 yards to pass Peyton Manning's mark of 79,279. He accomplished the feat with a 16-yard pass to Josh Gordon early in the second quarter.

Brady also came into the game needing 252 yards passing to reach 3,000 for the 16th straight season, tying Manning for second-most behind only Brett Favre's 18 seasons.

Brady had a chance at setting another record Sunday. He needs four touchdown passes to top Manning's 579 for the most in NFL history, including postseason games.

— Dennis Waszak Jr. reporting from East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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1:45 p.m.

This year's rookie quarterback class is off to a good start in Week 12.

Josh Allen threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Robert Foster to help Buffalo jump to a 14-0 lead over Jacksonville, while Baker Mayfield has a touchdown pass for Cleveland as the Browns leaped to a 14-0 lead over Cincinnati.

Josh Rosen leads the Cardinals against the Chargers later in the day.

Meanwhile, the Patriots' Rob Gronkowski has announced his return from an injury by hauling in a touchdown pass from Tom Brady to forge a 7-all tie with the New York Jets

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1 p.m.

It's not quite Showdown Sunday in the NFL in Week 12.

Of the 11 games on deck, none involves two teams with winning records. The closest is the early afternoon visit by Seattle (5-5) to Carolina (6-4), while a pair of 5-5 teams meet later in the day when Miami visits Indianapolis.

Elsewhere, the Jaguars visit the Bills, the Browns visit the Bengals, the Patriots travel to the Jets, the Giants are in Philadelphia, the 49ers head to Tampa Bay and the Raiders visit Baltimore.

The Cardinals visit the Chargers and the Steelers visit the Broncos later in the day.

Perhaps the most important matchup comes Sunday night, when the Packers (4-5-1) visit the Vikings (5-4-1) in a matchup of NFC North rivals competing for a wild-card playoff spot.

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